Money Matters

Today, the Lumberton Board of Aldermen will present the budget to the voting public. What changes will be made and what cuts will be finalized? In order to find out, you need to attend the board meeting that is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. There were several appeals made to the board, but they, seemingly, fell on deaf ears. According to what was audible to the audience (there was a great deal of whispering) Adrien Fortenberry, Chief of Police and Danny Davis’ salaries were cut to $34,500. The other department head, Stephanie Mullen’s salary was not cut, but she was not making the same as the other department heads, so her salary will remain at $31,000. The deputy court clerk presented a proposal in an effort to cover her salary, but her plea was not taken very well. The pay for certified police officers will no longer be $14.50 per hour; it will be cut to $12.50 per hour. The aldermen stated that they wanted to get a standardized rate of pay for all officers, so some certified officers will receive a pay raise to have their rate of pay set at $12.50 per hour. In the public works department, the pay rate will range from $9.00--$11.75 per hour. I suppose they are not trying to establish a standardized rate of pay for the public works department. Danny Davis explained that the difference in pay is a result of individuals starting at different times, but the same could be said of the police department. Go figure. The deputy clerks will be cut to a pay rate of $7.25 per hour but there was a proposal to terminate one of the deputy clerks. It’s going to be interesting how they determine which clerk they are going to terminate. Will they base their decision on seniority or will it be based on the individuals’ willingness to learn and get certification? Sue has more seniority, but in her four years of employment she hasn’t become certified (a process that can take up to four years). On the other hand, Betty has attended every certification class she was approved to attend. Also during the workshop the board of aldermen decided that they will give up their salary, but they will keep their health insurance/benefits. If you remember, this grand gesture was made by the previous administration and as soon as the money began to accumulate they went back and reinstated their salaries with retro pay. So, this is not a genuine effort to help the city, it’s just a gesticulation to help appease the minds of those that had their salaries cut. If the board really wanted to lead by example, they would submit a letter to the city clerk stating that they will donate their salaries back to the city. This would be an individual commitment and that way they wouldn’t be able to go back at a later date and get retro pay for the salary they donated to the city. Since they want to throw themselves on their swords, so to speak, they should give up their health benefits as well. Prior to the Cooley administration, health benefits were only given to the mayor of the city. The aldermen stated that they didn’t want to make cuts that they weren’t willing to take themselves. For the record, Alderman Gibson was ready to make some big cuts to the budget, but his suggestions were not well received. When he stated that all department heads salary's should be set at $31,500 there was a lot of mumbling and grumbling from the audience. Are we really going to get into the issue of equal pay for men and women? But in the same vien, don't cut the deputy clerks or the court clerk down to $7.25/hr when you're paying guys in the public works department $9.50/hr. The board of aldermen meets once a month. Part time employees are not eligible for health insurance, so why are we paying for health insurance for aldermen that meet once a month? In order to get a budget that would actually benefit the city, I proposed the following: The board of aldermen should take a reduction in their salary. Susan Guidry should no longer stay on as deputy clerk. This is an at will employment state, and employees can be terminated without cause. But if they need a reason, here are two: Sue had four years to get certified and she has not done so and she took confidential information out of city hall in order to complete payroll. To fill the position currently held by Susan Guidry, cross train Melissa Pack to work as deputy court clerk and deputy clerk. This will allow Melissa to come on board as a full time employee and we will have someone in the office that can deal with the issues of tickets, payment of fines, etc. I also suggested that any non-certified officers be released and the pay rate of our police officers would stay the same, but a cap would be established for certified officers at the pay rate of $14.50/hr. I suggested that Jimmy, Stanley, Otis, Roy, Richard and one additional public works employee remain on payroll and the others should be released. The cuts I suggested seems tough, but they will help the city recover. The board of aldermen wants to pat themselves on the back by saying that they are trying to keep as many people on payroll as possible, but at what cost? In retrospect, all they have achieved is to catapult several employees into the category of the working poor. They agonized over the budget cuts for hours and essentially, they only managed to save the city $33,000, but with the cuts I suggested, the city would save $99,840. If the city laid off six employees at a pay rate of $8.00/hr. (the employees that would be laid off make more than $8.00/hr. but I used that rate for calculation purposes.) The savings of $99,840 does not include health insurance, state retirement payments or a millage increase. If those figures were included (minus the millage increase) the potential savings would be somewhere around $164,000.